Understanding why pilling happens and how to prevent it can keep your sweaters looking fresh and new for longer. Sweaters are a wardrobe staple, offering warmth, comfort, and style.

When you finally land on the perfect shirt option, you immediately see pilling — and now you're scrambling to figure out how to remove pills from clothes. It's a pretty common conundrum, though ...

This is called pilling, and it's preventable with a few easy steps. When you find a shirt or pair of pants that you really like, it can be tempting to wear—and wash—them frequently.

On the flip side, "synthetic acrylic is terrible for pilling," Cormier said. "It's basically a substitute for wool," he said. "Like those cheap hat-glove-scarf three-piece sets.

No matter what you spend on a sweater, it seems to develop those unsightly little balls of fuzz. Elizabeth Holmes takes a look at why even expensive sweaters aren't immune to pilling and what ...